Zealot (Build)
A Zealot is a Paladin build that uses, as the name suggests, Zeal as main attack. This is usually accompanied by Fanaticism, which boosts damage and attack speed. Zealots are very good at Player vs Monster gameplay, but a poor at Player vs Player fighting. Skills: Primary skills: *Zeal - 20 *Fanaticism - 20 *Holy Shield - 20 Zeal is the Zealot's main attack. The Zealot relies on a good melee weapon and then maximizes damage output with Zeal. Fanaticism is the most common aura used in combination. The increased attack speed is crucial for zealots so that they can finish their attack quickly in case they start dying during their attacks. Of course, it also increases the rate that zealots and their parties can do damage. Holy Shield is used mainly because Zeal is best with fast one-hand weapons, which makes it natural to use a shield in combination. With Holy Shield the paladin's block rating is boosted considerably. Not all zealot builds max holy shield, as the defense and block boosts are already very substantial at level 4 or 5 if coupled with good gear and skill boosting equipment. Zeal can be used with the faster 2-handed weapons as well, but this is not recommended. In this case Holy Shield is nearly useless of course and the build becomes wholly offensive. Though it is risky (the Paladin will take a lot of damage) and the only gain of this version is a higher damage output, the two-handed Zealot can survive because Zeal cannot be interrupted, and even a fairly low amount of Life Steal will be sufficient to restore the paladin's hitpoints. Synergy skills: *Sacrifice - 20 *Defiance - 20 Zeal receives a 12% synergy damage bonus from each level spent in Sacrifice. In addition, in the early levels Sacrifice is a decent skill to have, dealing high damage at a relatively low cost. Defiance is a synergy for Holy Shield. It is not required to max Defiance since Paladins often have a very high defense rating anyway, but any spare points may as well be placed here. Utility skills: Resist Fire, Cold, and Lightning all passively increase max resistance through synergies. Redemption is an useful aura to have, both for mana and health regeneration and to prevent monster resurrection. Vigor is useful for trekking through large areas or for corpse retrieval. Meditation is useful for party play among mana-starved allies, while Salvation is useful for allies with less magic resist. Equipment: Weapon: 1-handed: A Grief Phase Blade is great due to its very high damage, and can also be used for secondary smiting. Ethereal Runeword Berserker Axe is a good choice due to it's superior damage. Schaefer's Hammer Legendary Mallet is the best in PvM combat due to its Static Field or a Cresent Moon (Runeword). A Death ethereal Beserker Axe is a great choice due to the high Crushing Blow and Death Strike chance as well as decent damage. 2-handed: The Grandfather Colossus Blade and Doombringer Champion Sword Ethereal Edge Silver-Edged Axe, Hellslayer Decapitator and Messerschmidt's Reaver Champion Axe The Cranium Basher Thunder Maul Ethereal Breath of the Dying Great Poleaxe / Colossal Sword / Champion Axe Ethereal Death Colossal Sword / Cryptic Axe Shield: Herald of Zakarum Gilded Shield Exile Rune Word Ethereal Vortex Shield Helm: Guillaumme's Face Winged Helm (great for Deadly Strike and Crushing Blow) Crown of Ages Corona Socketed with 2xBer Veil of Steel Spired Helm Socketed with Ber Andariel's Visage Demonhead Socketed with Ber Armor: Tyrael's Might Sacred Armor Socketed with Ber Leviathan Kraken Shell Socketed with Cham Arkaine's Valor Balrog Skin Socketed with Cham Upped Shaftstop Boneweave Socketed with Cham Runeword Archon Plate Runeword Archon Plate Belt: Verdungo's Hearty Cord Milthril Coil Nosferatu's Coil Vampirefang Belt String of Ears Demonhide Sash Thundergod's Vigor War Belt, great for Lightning Absorb, Strength and Vitality and Maximum Lightning resist. Gloves: Dracul's Grasp Vampirebone Gloves Boots: Upped Gore Rider Myrmidon Boots Amulet and Ring: Highlord's Wrath Amulet The Cat's Eye Amulet Metalgrid Amulet Mara's Kaleidoscope Amulet The Eye of Etlich Amulet 2x Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band ring for more lifesteal, life and skills. or Raven Frost Ring and a dual leech (mana drain and life drain) ring if you do not have mana drain on any other piece of equipment. only very little mana drain is needed, as most attacks require only 2 mana points to use, so do not use this if you already have mana drain on your equipment. or Raven Frost Ring and Dwarf Star Ring for some Cold and Fire absorb with some life and mana. Ravenfrost has the Cannot Be Frozen mod so if you use Raven Frost, you shouldn't socket the Cham Rune in your armor. It's better to socket Ber runes in the empty armor sockets (up to 50% psyhical resistance). Do NOT use Angelic Wings and Angelic Halo! These give virtually nothing but attack rating. Fanaticism and Zeal will yield enough attack rating, making these items utterly useless. Of course this is not the full list of possible equipment but merely a selection of the best available. Mercenary: There are multiple options, but the best choice is one of the Nightmare Act II mercenaries. It's best to use Might with an Ethereal Runeword Cryptic Axe. You can get a Holy Freeze mercenary and give him Pride Cryptic Axe for a higher level in Holy Freeze and Concentration (16-20). Another but lesser option is to give Ethereal Runeword Cryptic Axe for a weaker Holy Freeze and Might Aura. Finally you can use a Doom Berserker Axe (not Ethereal) on your character to get the same aura. It isn't that powerful, but it's not much weaker then Breath of the Dying and it gives you the safety of Holy Freeze without sacrificing the Concentration or the Might of your mercenary. For those who like a more defensive gameplay there's an option of using the Normal Act II mercenary with Defiance and get Holy Freeze from Doom Runeword (your Berserker axe or the Mercenary's Ethereal Cryptic Axe) in addition. This isn't recommended because a relatively high level Defiance can be acquired from Elite Paladin Shield. The Sacred Targe is recommended for better blocking, but Vortex Shield can be used as well as it has more defense. If you're using an Act I mercenary it's best to use Ward Bow. Other items are not that important, neither is the type of Act I mercenary. Act V mercenaries are another mediocre option. They can use swords like Ethereal Colossal Sword with its Might aura, Fade, Life Tap and Crushing Blow. sword is also a nice option for boosting resistances. Finally there's the Act III mercenary. They can use the sword in addition to a shield. Monarch and Shields are options here. Cold is the recommended damage type. Playing in a team: The Zealot is one of the most preferred subclasses in a group. Most of the Summoning Necromancers, Barbarians, Amazons, Shape-shifting and Summoning Druids, and Martial Arts Assassins will benefit from your Fanaticism aura.